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Dianne Feinstein mum on gun deal

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the leading gun control advocate in the upper chamber, on Thursday took a wait-and-see position on the just-hatched bipartisan gun deal.

“I haven’t seen the bill, so I’m going to reserve my concerns,” Feinstein said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when asked about a compromise bill crafted by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) “I only know what people have told me. Everything is a step forward. You know, we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, as has been said.”

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Manchin and Toomey’s bill would apply criminal background checks to sales at gun shows and online, but wouldn’t regulate private sales. Public opinion polls have shown close to 90 percent of the public backing universal background checks, which the law would fall short of. And while the Senate is likely to vote on an amendment banning assault weapons crafted by Feinstein, it is not expected to pass.

“I think we are on a track. The question is to where,” Feinstein said. “And it’s not enough, I agree with that. What I’ve been surprised at, as the weapons grow more and more sophisticated over the time, and the kill power increases, and the availability of hundred-round drums that be fed into the weapons increases, that what you have is a situation … I’ve watched this over many years. These weapons are very attractive to people who want to remedy a grievance, who just want to kill. They’re drawn to these weapons. And they’re not, these weapons aren’t hunting weapons.”